'61 Gibson Les Paul 'SG' Custom

The Gibson Les Paul Custom underwent a sea-change in 1961 that confuses some people even today.

The model morphed from the familiar single-cut Les Paul body shape employed from the first days of the model, into what is now recognised as the SG body shape. But it retained, at least for a short period, its official designation as a ‘Les Paul’ model – hence the split identity of these particular guitars, which still causes some to scratch their heads a bit when they first encounter them. In fact, the SG-shaped Les Paul Custom carried the Les Paul name until 1963 when, after parting ways with Lester, Gibson completed the transformation and changed the official model name to SG Custom. The initials SG stand simply for ‘solid guitar’. It wasn’t until 1968 that Gibson reintroduced the Les Paul Custom in a single-cut format again, albeit with two, not three, humbucking pickups.